Seriousness

This is the last of the excerpts from Ian Fearn's book "Think Again," published by The New Renasence Trust:


‘Serious’ is one of those words which causes an immediate emotional reaction. Apply it to a problem, an illness or predicament and we can quickly spot its negative effect on ourselves and other people. We become not merely uninspired but dispirited, if not actually frightened with the seriousness of the situation confronting us, weighed down by our seeming inability to deal with it. We are overwhelmed with seriousness - the most unpromising mood for tackling anything successfully!

The problem or illness may be quite minor, but if we dwell on it seriously, it will become inflated in proportion to our own deflation of spirit. In fact, our problem becomes larger than life, and often turns into a morbid exaggeration.

We may try to fight the problem with dogged determination, but our attacks do little more than add weight to the negativity. We may think that we are ‘getting it out of our system’ by talking about it to others, but negative talk about our worries and woes often tends to make them more formidable. So long as we are distressed with the stresses of seriousness, our problems will remain unsolved, and sooner or later we may become a problem ourselves.

Take but a glimpse at the lightness of Life, and seriousness will appear as what it is - a burden. You can understand this if you try to enjoy an evening out with a serious companion! The weight of their ‘psychic baggage’ is a heavy weight to bear! Seriousness severs our connection with Life. So, it is actually an ‘offence’ against the Life-law of vital circulation. We all know that our whole physical well-being depends upon the healthy circulation of the blood. If it becomes sluggish, like a stagnant stream meandering through a valley, it collects an accumulation of toxins which poisons our system, and if we do not do something about it, disease in some form will follow. What is at the back of the stagnant circulation? More often than not a stagnant temperament that plods along without interest or zest, or seriously holds on to the relics of a dead past. No one who obstructs the circulation of Life can be happy or healthy.

Tuning our Instrument

To talk about sluggishness and stagnation may sound a bit out of place in this busy age, when our existence is speeded up into one strenuous rush. But when the speeding comes from the outside, what is our natural reaction? Agitated scramble: In fact, hurry is the unintelligent effort of trying to accelerate with the brakes on. That puts an impossible strain on the most long-suffering piece of mechanism. We are trying - seriously again - to force our sluggish selves to a quicker than natural tempo, and the results are none too pleasant, as can be seen in our strained faces and anxious eyes.

The outer speeds of our modern world may give some a passing thrill of exhilaration, but what a poor a fleeting substitute for the joy of sharing the rhythms of Life! Life’s lively concerto is ours to enjoy if we tune our instrument! The musician knows the art of adjusting the strings of his violin so that they are neither too taut nor too slack. That is something we too must learn with our instruments, the body, the brain and the psyche, for Life to make its music through us. One of the most enabling thoughts is that Life is always waiting to work with the man who attunes himself to its higher frequencies.

All this may sound inviting, but sadly remote when we get bogged down in a ‘serious’ bout. How then can we deal with problems successfully without getting serious about them?

Midnight Worries

Firstly, it is good to recognise that the middle of the night is not the time for solving them. That is when they multiply and magnify out of all reasonable proportions. If we happen to have some trouble on our mind when we go to bed, then we need to be firm with ourselves. Instead of tossing around, worrying about what is disturbing us, we should encourage ourselves that it is really not some awkward problem, but a challenge, and that if we relax and go to sleep we shall be preparing ourselves to tackle it in the morning.

The next day, get to work in a constructive spirit to simplify the problem; that is, to eliminate any factors which seem to complicate the situation. It may help to see the factual pros and cons more clearly to write them down. This objectivity may also enable us to see the matter in better perspective, beyond the emotions of fear, anxiety, suspicion etc. The most difficult factor in dealing with any problem is the emotions involved. So we should take every means to transfer the problem from the maze of personal feelings to the objective plane, to get a new slant.

Switch on the Light

When a difficult problem arises, instead of becoming serious about it, or complaining ‘Why should this happen to me?,’ mentally switch to the positive pole. Assure yourself that the problem is not really unique. Millions have come this way before, and quite a large proportion whose plight was as bad have struck a working equation with Life. They are confident that Life will work out with them a happy solution to their problems. That confidence, so to speak, ‘switches on the light’ that delivers us from the gloom of our anxious fears and the heavy ‘hang-ups’ of those who have not dared the great adventure of learning to Live.

Most of the troubles in the world that assume such serious disproportions come about through neophytes in the school of Life jumping to the conclusion that they can qualify in the tests before studying the lessons. Although Life has no printed text books, it has a sure and certain science that those who would Live must learn.

Confidence in Life

Living is an adventure, and we are here, every man, woman and child, to make a new life for ourselves. Even if we should happen to be handicapped by a physical defect, a set of complicated circumstances, or some psychological hold-up*, it is possible to deal with such things, if we go the right way about it. It is not a matter of expecting a miracle, but of changing our attitude from one of serious anxiety to confident trust in Life’s power. This positive attitude, that welcomes the outwardly impossible and believes in its possibility, will lift the problem from the negative emotional plane where no problem can be solved, to the creative plane where the impossible can come true.





A Benediction

May the Wisdom of the Eternal Light save you from suffering. When falling into Life’s temptations may you find yourself in His everlasting arms, and being strengthened by the Wisdom of worldly experience, may your Soul be able to stand with Him in the Light of Life, the Eternal Embrace of Love

Amen

Love - Ian Fearn


© New Renasence Trust (Registered Charity No 256640)